What the newspapers say: March 2, 2007

de HotNews.ro

Vineri, 2 martie 2007, 0:00

President Basescu seems to have a power shield protecting him from the scandals he caused by himself lately. Romanians would still vote for him any time, despite all the accusations politicians struggle to put up against him.Still, the president faces a strong opposition from the Parliament, his attempt to organize a referendum for uninominal voting being one step away from being rejected by the senators and deputies.

Some 65% of the populace would vote against the suspension of president Basescu, in case such a referendum would be organized. Only 19% would be in favor, while 12% wouldn't even bother to vote, Evenimentul Zilei reads.

This renders the Parliament's initiative quite useless. What about Basescu's initiative on the uninominal vote? "Parliamentarians run from uninominal vote like devils run from holy water", is the title in the same Evenimentul Zilei.Invoking minor arguments, the parliamentarians failed by one vote to adopt the presidential demand for a referendum and expect a new text draft next week.

European elections also make some headlines today. Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu meets the leaders of all parliamentarian parties on Friday, in order to discuss the post accession strategy and the European elections agenda. The main preoccupation, according to Gandul, is not to have the elections postponed until September.

September or sooner, Evenimentul Zilei warns that the election lists are about to close and parties did nothing but establish their leading candidate. In less than two weeks, the lists should be complete.

Talking about Romania's participation in European institutions: the list of future judges at the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) must be also delayed one week, because a woman's name is required, Gandul reads.

Never mind all these inconveniences. Life is beautiful in Romania, the party never stops and the hottest place to be for a party-man is… The Army!Two million euros were spent in 2006 for the Army's 300 protocol actions. The money went to buy 60,000 bottles of wine, 3,000 bottles of vodka and whiskey, 1,300 bottles of champagne, 120 tons of beer, despite the fact that the law forbids such expenses using public funds, Cotidianul comments.

At least we're nobody's fools, not even while drinking. Our vodka pals, Moldovans, were getting ready to play us a trick, but the operation was soon unveiled.Last week, Russia and Moldova made a lot of fuss around Romania trying to steal Moldovan citizens (although the truth is that it takes some four years to gain Romanian citizenship). So they invented an association of the Moldovan Minority in Romania, in order to complain about the discrimination.Romania Libera Found out that the move was in fact intended to ease the way towards European funds for minority protection.

Well, since we found out about it, let's return happily to our ordinary affairs. Cheers!